Styling A Small Space

For Michaela Warner, good design goes well beyond pretty textiles and perfectly mapped floor plans. It’s about the people who will enjoy the space each and every day, and styling spaces for life’s sake rather than aesthetics alone. This guest suite—a custom space for homeowner Lauren Hooker of Elle & Company—is a shining example ofher detail-oriented design. We sat down with Michaela to get her take onstyling small spacesand what it takes to create a home-sweet-home.

First things first: Tell us how you got into the interior design world! What sparked your interest in this creative field?From a young age, I’ve always been creative and loved houses. You could often find me as a little girl building floor plans out ofJenga blocks (which spanned the whole area of my bedroom!). My grandma is also an interior designer, so seeing her design and decorate people’s homes for her job reallypushed meto pursue interior design in college. I went to Seattle Pacific University, where I earned mybachelor’s degreein interior design. Life after graduation confirmed thatI have a deep passion for people and what a home represents to a person or family.I truly believe that good design impacts people’s lives for the better.